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The Diplomat
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Khmer Rouge Execution, Torture Sites Added to UNESCO World Heritage List
The Cambodian government says that the three sites 'bear irrefutable evidence of events amounting to one of the most serious abuses of human rights in the 20th century.' Three former torture and execution sites used by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list, in recognition of their journey 'from centers of repression to places of peace and reflection.' Two prisons and an execution site were inscribed on the list by UNESCO on Friday during the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris, the AFP news agency reported. The sites include the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (formerly S-21 security prison) and the Choeung Ek 'killing fields' attached to S-21, both in the capital Phnom Penh. The third site is the former M-13 prison on the border between Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu provinces, where the communist Khmer Rouge honed their security techniques prior to coming to power. As such, the three sites played an important role in the proceedings at the U.N.-backed tribunal set up to try surviving members of the Khmer Rouge, especially in the case of Kaing Guek Eav (alias Comrade Duch), the zealous former captain of both M-13 and S-21. After being convicted of crimes against humanity by the court in 2012, Duch died in prison in 2020. The UNESCO listing comes shortly after the 50th anniversary of this takeover of the communist Khmer Rouge on April 17, 1975, which initiated three years, eight months, and 20 days of intense suffering and privation for the country's people. By the time the Vietnamese military overthrew it in January 1979, the regime – its official name was Democratic Kampuchea – had caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from overwork, sickness, and execution. The listing was greeted with government-sponsored ceremonies yesterday, including at both S-21 and Choeung Ek, during which monks and government officials beat drums and hit gongs in celebration. The three sites – referred to collectively by UNESCO as 'Cambodian memorial sites' – are the first modern and non-classical archaeological sites that Cambodia has nominated for World Heritage status, and is among the first in the world to be submitted as a site associated with recent conflict, Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts said in a statement cited by AFP. Four other Cambodian sites have previously been added to the UNESCO list: the Angkor temple complex outside Siem Reap; Preah Vihear temple, an eleventh-century temple on the border with Thailand; and the temple complexes of Sambor Prei Kuk and Koh Ker. According to Cambodia's submission to UNESCO, the three memorial sites 'bear irrefutable evidence of events amounting to one of the most serious abuses of human rights in the 20th century.' In justifying their joint nomination, it noted that the three locations 'embod[y] the essential stages of the development and functioning of the Khmer Rouge security system.' S-21, a former primary school, was perhaps the most important and best known of the regime's dozens of prisons and security centers. Within its classrooms and crudely constructed isolation chambers, at least 14,000 'enemies of the revolution' were interrogated, tortured, forced to confess often imaginary crimes, and butchered at Choeung Ek. These eventually included many members of the Khmer Rouge revolution itself. After Vietnam's overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Vietnamese museum experts helped transform S-21 into a museum showcasing the atrocities of Democratic Kampuchea. The museum's displays are today dominated by the hypnotic black and white portraits of its thousands of victims, which were taken upon their admission to S-21. The museum also houses extensive archives related to the Khmer Rouge era, including the chilling interrogation files compiled by Duch and his subordinates. Choeung Ek was similarly transformed into a memorial site known as the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. By contrast, M-13 was active prior to the fall of Phnom Penh in 1975, when it was used to punish and interrogate people living in 'liberated zones' controlled by the Khmer Rouge. It was here that many of the Khmer Rouge's security 'techniques' were tested and honed. As the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung noted in a recent study of the site, 'understanding what happened at M-13 is an important part of understanding the evolution of the Khmer Rouge ideology and its development of imprisonment and torture even before the regime seized full power over the country in April 1975.' In its submission to UNESCO, the Cambodian government said that the nomination of the three sites 'encourage visitors to take a critical look at the dynamics of violence and the consequences of political persecution under repressive ideologies.' It added that the proposed listing 'encourages peaceful coexistence among peoples and fosters a commitment to never repeat such atrocities.'
Daily Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Express
Three Cambodia genocide sites added to Unesco register
Published on: Sunday, July 13, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jul 13, 2025 Text Size: Tourists walk at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. PHNOM PENH: Three notorious Cambodian torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago were inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List. The hardline Maoist group led by Pol Pot reset the calendar to 'Year Zero' on April 17, 1975 and emptied cities in a bid to create a pure agrarian society free of class, politics or capital. Around two million people died of starvation, forced labour or torture or were slaughtered in mass killings between 1975 and 1979. The Cambodian locations entered into the Unesco register include two prison sites and a 'killing field' where thousands were executed. 'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a video message aired by state-run television TVK. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.' Two sites added to the list are in the capital Phnom Penh – the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre. Tuol Sleng is a former high school which was converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where an estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. Today the site is a space for commemoration and education, housing the black-and-white mugshots of its many victims and the preserved equipment used by Khmer Rouge tormentors. Choeung Ek – a former Chinese cemetery – was a notorious 'killing field' where S-21 prisoners were executed nightly. More than 6,000 bodies were exhumed from over 100 mass graves at the ground in the early 1980s, according to Cambodian government documents filed with Unesco. Every year, hundreds hold remembrance prayers in front of the site's memorial displaying victims' skulls and watch students stage dramatic re-enactments of the bloody Khmer Rouge crimes. Another prison site known as M-13, located in a rural area in central Kampong Chhnang province, was one of the most important prisons of the early Khmer Rouge but is today only a patch of derelict land. Khmer Rouge cadres 'invented and tested various methods of interrogation, torture and killing' there, and kept prisoners in pits still faintly visible today, a Cambodian submission to Unesco says. 'It is the landscape of our shared memory in Cambodia,' said Youk Chhang, a survivor of the 'killing fields' and director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities. 'This will ensure the teaching of Khmer Rouge history (will) be more efficient and relevant.' A special tribunal sponsored by the United Nations convicted three key Khmer Rouge figures, including S-21 chief torturer Kaing Guek Eav, before ceasing operations in 2022. Pol Pot, nicknamed 'Brother Number One', died in 1998 before he was brought to trial. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Bangkok Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Cambodian genocide sites added to World Heritage list
Three torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago have been added to the Unesco World Heritage List. The locations reflect the human rights abuses of the hardline Maoist group and widespread violence that took place in Cambodia from 1971 to 1979, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a statement. The three sites include the former M-13 prison in Kampong Chhnang province, where the Khmer Rouge devised the repression and execution techniques that they would later use on a mass scale. Today the site is just a patch of derelict land. The other two sites are located in Phnom Penh: the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21 prison) and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (the former 'killing field' where S-21 prisoners were executed). All have been preserved and memorialised since the regime's fall. The Tuol Sleng Museum maintains extensive archives and collections related to the period. Led by Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge reset the calendar to 'Year Zero' on April 17, 1975 and emptied cities in a bid to create a pure agrarian society free of class, politics or capital. Around two million people died of starvation, forced labour or torture or were slaughtered in mass killings between 1975 and 1979. (Story continues below) 'May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended,' Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a video message aired by the state-run broadcaster TVK. 'From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity.' A number of other sites worldwide were inscribed on the Unesco list on Friday, among them the Xixia Imperial Tombs in the foothills of the southern Helan Mountains in Ningxia, China; the Forest Research Institute at Malaysia Forest Park Selangor near Kuala Lumpur; and the Murujuga Cultural Landscape of ancient rocks located in northwestern Australia.
The Star
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Three Cambodia genocide sites added to Unesco register
FILE PHOTO: This photo taken on March 28, 2025 shows tourists reading leaflets as they look at portrait photos of victims of the Khmer Rouge regime at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. Three notorious Cambodian torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago were inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List on July 11. - AFP PHNOM PENH: Three notorious Cambodian torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago were inscribed on Unesco's World Heritage List on Friday. The hardline Maoist group led by Pol Pot reset the calendar to "Year Zero" on April 17, 1975 and emptied cities in a bid to create a pure agrarian society free of class, politics or capital. Around two million people died of starvation, forced labour or torture, or were slaughtered in mass killings between 1975 and 1979. The Cambodian locations entered into the Unesco register include two prison sites and a "killing field" where thousands were executed. "May this inscription serve as a lasting reminder that peace must always be defended," Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a video message aired by state-run television TVK. "From the darkest chapters of history, we can draw strength to build a better future for humanity." Two sites added to the list are in the capital Phnom Penh - the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre. Tuol Sleng is a former high school which was converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where an estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. Today the site is a space for commemoration and education, housing the black-and-white mugshots of its many victims and the preserved equipment used by Khmer Rouge tormentors. Choeung Ek - a former Chinese cemetery - was a notorious "killing field" where S-21 prisoners were executed nightly. More than 6,000 bodies were exhumed from over 100 mass graves at the ground in the early 1980s, according to Cambodian government documents filed with Unesco. Every year, hundreds hold remembrance prayers in front of the site's memorial displaying victims' skulls, and watch students stage dramatic re-enactments of the bloody Khmer Rouge crimes. Another prison site known as M-13, located in a rural area in central Kampong Chhnang province, was one of the most important prisons of the early Khmer Rouge but is today only a patch of derelict land. Khmer Rouge cadres "invented and tested various methods of interrogation, torture and killing" there, and kept prisoners in pits still faintly visible today, a Cambodian submission to Unesco says. "It is the landscape of our shared memory in Cambodia," said Youk Chhang, a survivor of the "killing fields" and director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities. "This will ensure the teaching of Khmer Rouge history (will) be more efficient and relevant." A special tribunal sponsored by the United Nations convicted three key Khmer Rouge figures, including S-21 chief torturer Kaing Guek Eav, before ceasing operations in 2022. Pol Pot, nicknamed "Brother Number One", died in 1998 before he was brought to trial. - AFP
Int'l Business Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Three Cambodia Genocide Sites Added To UNESCO Register
Three notorious Cambodian torture and execution sites used by the Khmer Rouge regime to perpetrate genocide 50 years ago were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List on Friday. The hardline Maoist group led by Pol Pot reset the calendar to "Year Zero" on April 17, 1975 and emptied cities in a bid to create a pure agrarian society free of class, politics or capital. Around two million people died of starvation, forced labour or torture or were slaughtered in mass killings between 1975 and 1979. The Cambodian locations entered into the UNESCO register include two prison sites and a "killing field" where thousands were executed. "It is the landscape of our shared memory in Cambodia," said Youk Chhang, a survivor of the "killing fields" and director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities. "This will ensure the teaching of Khmer Rouge history (will) be more efficient and relevant." Two sites added to the list are in the capital Phnom Penh -- the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre. Tuol Sleng is a former high school which was converted into a notorious prison known as S-21, where an estimated 15,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. Today the site is a space for commemoration and education, housing the black-and-white mugshots of its many victims and the preserved equipment used by Khmer Rouge tormentors. Choeung Ek -- a former Chinese cemetery -- was a notorious "killing field" where S-21 prisoners were executed nightly. More than 6,000 bodies were exhumed from over 100 mass graves at the ground in the early 1980s, according to Cambodian government documents filed with UNESCO. Every year, hundreds hold remembrance prayers in front of the site's memorial displaying victims' skulls and watch students stage dramatic re-enactments of the bloody Khmer Rouge crimes. Another prison site known as M-13, located in a rural area in central Kampong Chhnang province, was one of the most important prisons of the early Khmer Rouge but is today only a patch of derelict land. Khmer Rouge cadres "invented and tested various methods of interrogation, torture and killing" there, and kept prisoners in pits still faintly visible today, a Cambodian submission to UNESCO says. A special tribunal sponsored by the United Nations convicted three key Khmer Rouge figures, including S-21 chief torturer Kaing Guek Eav, before ceasing operations in 2022. Pol Pot, nicknamed "Brother Number One", died in 1998 before he was brought to trial. Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh is also now on UNESCO's World Heritage List AFP
